NBA legend Elgin Baylor has passed away of natural causes at the age of 86.
Baylor spent his entire NBA career with the Lakers in both Minneapolis and in Los Angeles. The Lakers would make him the number one pick in the 1958 NBA Draft and he immediately paid dividends by winning the league's Rookie of the Year Award and was All-Star Game MVP in 1959, his first of 11 All-Star appearances.
Although Baylor never won a NBA MVP, he did lead the Lakers to seven NBA Finals but never won a championship. Baylor retired early during the 1971-1972 season when the Lakers would win a NBA record 33 consecutive games and won their first NBA title. The Lakers gave Baylor a ring despite his retirement.
To give you an idea of how good Baylor was, his 27.4 points per game is still the third highest in NBA history. Only Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain are better at over 30 points per game. Baylor would be inducted into the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame in 1977.
Baylor had less success as a head coach with the New Orleans Jazz in the late 1970's and as an executive with the Los Angeles Clippers for more than two decades. The Clippers were generally the laughingstock of the league although Baylor was named NBA Executive of the Year in 2006 when the Clippers won their first playoff series in 30 years. However, two years later, Baylor's tenure with the Clippers came to an abrupt resulting in a ugly lawsuit which would eventually be dismissed.
None of that, however, changes the fact that Baylor was one of the greatest players in NBA history.
Baylor also made a handful of acting appearances. Just yesterday, I saw his guest appearance in a 1980 episode of The White Shadow which also featured Red Auerbach, Rosey Grier and Sparky Anderson.
Having just seen him on TV makes me think. I wonder if Baylor saw himself on TV yesterday. I wonder if he knew his time was coming to a close. R.I.P.
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